Violence in Mexican state of Guerrero kills 6

Gunmen killed six people, including a local police chief, in a series of attacks on Monday in mountain towns in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.

Gunmen killed six people, including a local police chief, in a series of attacks on Monday in mountain towns in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.

The police chief of Pungarabato was repeatedly shot while driving his red Mustang on a highway near the small town early Monday, Guerrero state public safety department said in a news release. Five other men were found gunned down in different towns in the isolated mountainous zone known as the Tierra Caliente, or the Hot Land, the state police said.

In the border city of Tijuana, soldiers detained 60 people at a party, including a suspected drug hit man accused of cutting up bodies.

Angel Jacome Gamboa is accused of working for Eduardo Teodoro Garcia Simental, a former member of the Arellano Felix who is now fighting for control of Tijuana. Jacome was found with a gold-plated 9mm gun with the image of Mexico's Death Saint, a skeleton worshipped by some traffickers, according to military commander, Alfonso Duarte Mujica.

Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo", short for Teodoro, has appeared frequently in news reports over the last year amid a bloodbath of mutilated bodies, beheadings and dumped corpses. Two state police agents, and a former Rosarito city officer, were also detained Mujica said.

Also Monday, gunmen shot and killed a Michoacan state police commander outside police headquarters in the city of Zamora. Agustin Ruvalcaba had transferred to Zamora from the violent city of Uruapan two days ago, said Michoacan state attorney general Miguel Garcia.

Drug violence has claimed more than 7,200 lives since January 2008 as cartels battle each other and the army for control of territory.

President Felipe Calderon said Monday that the United States needs to play a greater role in the drug war, but he made clear he would not support a US military intervention.

Calderon made the comments during a news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.